Afghan-Japan Relations: LANDS UNDER THE RISING SUN Afghan-Japan Relations: LANDS UNDER THE RISING SUN by Haron Amin CommemoratingCommemorating the the CentennialCentennial Anniversary Anniversary of of PrincePrince Ayub’s Ayub’s Visit to to Japan Japan & CelebratingCelebrating 76 76 YearsYears of FormalFormal Relations Relations Afghan-Japan Relations: Lands of the Rising Sun Copyright © Haron Amin 2007 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Tokyo All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or private use, without written permission from the publisher. First published by The Islamic Embassy of Afghanistan in Tokyo in 2007. Amin, Haron. Afghan-Japan Relations: Lands of the Rising Sun / Haron Amin Includes bibliographical references Published by The Islamic Embassy of Afghanistan in Tokyo 3-37-8-B Nishihara Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0066 Tel: (03) 5465-1219 www.afghanistanembassyjp.com Printed and bound in Tokyo by Morimoto Printing Company, Ltd. CONTENTS FOREWORD BY LUDWIG ADAMECጔ PREFACE BY HARON AMIN xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xii 1. Ancient Influence and the Personification of Buddha…………………2 1.1. Lapis Lazuli………………………………………………………………………..5 1.2. Shared Heritage and Cultural Similarities…………………………………………6 1.3. The Ayyaran: “Group of Secret Gallant Knights”…………………………………7 1.4. Bushido…………………………………………………………………………….9 2. Historical Relations between Japan and Afghanistan………………..10 2.1. Early Afghan-Japanese Ties: Ayub and Togo Celebrate Asian Victories…………11 2.2. Japan’s Victory and the Rise of Nationalism……………………………………..13 2.2.1 The Pan-Islamist and Pan-Asianist Advocates ……………………………..………16 2.3. The Turko-German Mission in Afghanistan ……..………………………………17 2.4. The Revolutionaries………………………………………………………………19 2.4.1. Mahendra Pratap (1886-1979) ……………………………………………………19 2.4.2. Mitsuru Toyama (1855-1944)………………………………………………………21 2.4.3. Rash Bihari Bose (1885-1945) ………………………………………………….…21 2.4.4. Subhas Chandra “Netaji” Bose (1897-1945)……………………………………….22 2.5. The Pan-Asiatic Congress………………………………………………………...23 3. Formal Diplomatic Relations ………………………………………………25 3.1. Bilateral Developments…………………………………………………………...28 3.2. Post 9.11 Relations………………………………………………………………..32 3.2.1. Japan’s Role in the Reconstruction of Post-Conflict Afghanistan…………………….37 3.2.2. Current Status and Future Strategy of Japanese Assistance to Afghanistan ………….38 3.2.3. Breakdown of Japanese Assistance………………………………………………...39 3.3. Future Commitments……………………………………………………………...40 4. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….42 TABLE 1: Names of Afghan Officials who visited Japan since 2001 TABLE 2: Names of Japanese VIP Officials who visited Afghanistan since 2001 TABLE 3: Names, Dates and Posts of Afghan Diplomats in Japan TABLE 4: Names, Dates and Posts of Japanese Diplomats in Afghanistan TABLE 5: Ambassador in Charge of Afghanistan Assistance based at the Japanese Foreign Ministry BIBLIOGRAPHY PHOTO GALLERY Foreword Afghanistan’s relations with major powers have been adequately examined, especially relations with Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union. Some work has been done on relations with Pakistan and Italy, but virtually nothing exists on Afghanistan relations with Japan. Mr. Haron Amin, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Tokyo, has helped fill this lacuna with his interesting account of relations with the “Land of the Rising Sun.” Ambassador Amin points out interesting parallels in cultural and historical actors which may very well go back to a common heritage, derived from ancient contact by way of the Silk Route. Afghanistan, once known as Khorasan - also translates as “The Abode of the Rising Sun.” Buddhism spread from Afghanistan to Japan as did elements of Zoroastianism. He sees a number of other influences in the cultural development of Afghanistan. Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1905) showed Afghan and other Asian rulers that a policy of modernization was needed to resist the wave of western imperialism. Early contacts, beginning with Ayub Khan’s visit to Japan in 1907, are detailed on the basis of archival sources and tables list diplomatic representatives of both countries. A number of illustrations depict individuals involved in diplomatic contacts. Mr. Amin has done an excellent job and it is hoped that it will help inspire further research into the field of Afghanistan-Japan relations. Ludwig Adamec August 2006, Arizona Preface When I first arrived here, the mystique of Japan in those cool winter days took on a new dimension. I relished the idea of pursuing the quest for more knowledge and delved myself in th books on Japan. My first book was about Matsuo Basho, the 17 century master of Haiku. The search proved to be both a mesmerizing and humbling experience and I began to fall in love with Japan. Then as time passed on, I began to observe similarities with my own culture and history – of all sorts – which, I had neither noticed nor experienced anywhere else during my work and travels. As I shared an array of similitude, friends asked me to chronicle them. When the first few pages were being drafted, I was faced with disconnected pieces of an interesting puzzle. Fitting those pieces together suddenly became both fun and rewarding as I began to discover – apart from culture – interesting historical parallels between Japan and Afghanistan. When faced with lack of material and time difference, as well as distance between Japan and the rest of the world, the research was at times difficult. For instance, there were occasions when I had to wait more than three months for a single item such as photo, a date or a newspaper article. Eventually, the research took over two years as contents were obtained, among other sources, from the British Archives, the US Department of State Archives, Afghan National Archives and experts on Afghanistan. Meanwhile, I established a library within the Embassy and used those resources for additional information. th Finally, in July of 2006 - coinciding with the 75 anniversary of official bilateral relations - the article was published, after its translation into Japanese, by Jiyu (trans. as Freedom) Magazine. Haron Amin Tokyo Acknowledgments I must first express my gratitude to two people: Professor Ludwig Adamec for responding to my initial query regarding Prince Ayub’s visit to Japan, who encouraged me to conduct the research and reviewed the material compiled and Dr. A. G. Ravan Farhadi for reading the initial draft and offering me some recommendations. I also want to thank Mr. Hideaki Kase for the main text’s publication in Jiyu Magazine’s July 2006 issue, Mr. Yoshinori Akiyama for arranging the layout process, and friends of the Embassy for printing this updated version. And finally, thank you also Jean Tsang, Hassan Sobman, Masao Sekine, Yuko Ikenishi, Tomie Soude-Nitobe, Dr. Bashir Mohabbat, Jermaine Scott and some Foreign Ministry officials here in Tokyo for helping make this publication possible. History is past politics; and politics present history. - John Seely Afghan-Japan Relations Afghan-Japan Relations: Lands Under “The Rising Sun” Lands Under the Rising Sun Ernest Renan defined a nation as “a soul, a spiritual principle. Only two things, actually, constitute this soul, this principle. One is in the past, the other is in the present. One is the possession in common of a rich legacy of remembrance; the other is the actual consent, the desire to live together, the will to continue to value the heritage which all hold in 1 common.” Hence, among the peoples of Asia the peoples of Japan and Afghanistan possess most of the characteristics which are considered basic elements of nationhood – national pride, romantic patriotism, sense of superiority and above all, love for freedom. th It is very interesting that in the 6 century A.D., inhabitants who resided in present-day Afghanistan gave their land a new name: Khorāsān, meaning “The Abode of the Rising Sun.” “Khor” means sun and “āsān” means abode. It was around the same time that Japan became known as Nippon or Nihon which means “the sun’s origin,” or where the sun originates, although, it is always translated as the “Land of the Rising Sun.” Both Japan and Afghanistan thwarted foreign infiltration and occupation for thousands of years. For Japan, the isolation from the mainland – separated by the sea – provided it security from foreign attacks and an opportunity to mold its own distinct civilization. Japan successfully defended against the Mongolian attacks (1274-1281), maintained limited th th influence by the Portugese and Spanish traders (16 -17 centuries) and subsequently the Dutch and British merchants, and implemented the 1 Hutchinson, John & Smith, Anthony D. Nationalism. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), p. 17 1 Haron Amin closure of the country under the Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1850s). It only opened up after the arrival of Commodore Perry (1853) and reforms under the Meiji Restoration (1868). Paradoxically, Afghanistan protected its territory while situated in the heart of the mainland. In fact, its location at the crossroads of various civilizations enabled it to contribute to and borrow from those civilizations. Alexander the Great spent three tiresome years during his Afghan campaign (330-327 B.C.), Genghis Khan suffered a major blow in Bagram (1221), the British were defeated in the three Anglo-Afghan Wars (1839), (1880) and (1919) and the former Soviet Union suffered its first and final defeat in (1979-1989) since its founding in 1917. The historical relationship between Afghanistan and Japan is little known to most. Indeed, it is not widely recognized that Afghanistan has in fact had a significantly lasting influence on Japan to this day. There is a firm cultural underpinning for the continuation of the long standing relations between Afghanistan and Japan. The historical relationship between the two nations, including their religious, historical, and diplomatic ties demonstrate the various impacts Afghanistan and Japan have had on each other thus far.